When did the (Eastern) Roman Empire completely lose hope? Was it the moment when Syria, Egypt and North Africa were lost after the Arab invasion? Or when the Turks gradually engulfed Asia Minor after the Battle of Manchikert in 1071, and the army came to the throne.

Constantinople? Or was Constantinople captured by the Crusaders in 1204 and the empire split into many kingdoms?

In fact, it was only after the Johannine Civil War that this ancient empire completely lost hope of revival.

Although after the civil war between the two Andronicas, the victor Andronikos III became the new emperor of the Roman Empire, ending the nearly fifty-year rule of the faint king Andronikos II, at the cost of the complete loss of the empire

He lost all the territory in Asia Minor, retaining only a few coastal islands; but under his rule the empire was able to recover northern Greece and Albania, and completely destroyed the Despot of Impyrus in 1339.

This civil war did not seriously shake the foundations of the empire, and most of the territory before the civil war is still in the hands of the empire.

After ascending to the throne, he rebuilt the previously declining imperial navy and recovered some islands in the Aegean Sea; at the same time, he divided the remaining European territories into two military districts to ensure an imperial standing army of at least 10,000 people.

During the reign of Andronicus III, the empire may have maintained a semblance of prosperity, but after his death, the situation took a turn for the worse.

After the death of the young emperor, the most serious civil war in the history of the empire broke out. This war destroyed everything and reduced the great Rome to an insignificant shadow of the great empire of the past. The War of Two Johns alone "destroyed everything"

, even if the previous civil wars combined are not comparable.

A Spanish traveler, Pedro Tafur, described Constantinople after the Johannine Civil War. He said: "It no longer resembles a city at all. People can only learn from the collapsed houses and many huge palaces."

, its former glory can only be imagined from the ruins of churches and monasteries.”

In September 1341, John led his army to leave Constantinople to fight against the invading Serbia. Almost at the same time, the conspiracy against John began almost at the same time. Alexius Apocox successfully lobbied the Empress Dowager, Sarah.

Anna of Voi convinced the Empress Dowager that John was about to rebel. In October, the Patriarch of Constantinople, John XIV Calacas, declared himself regent and joined forces with the Empress Dowager Anna to demand that John hand over power.

John proclaimed himself emperor with the support of the army, and this began what John VI called "the most serious civil war in the history of the Romans."

Both sides introduced external forces to participate in this civil war, including Serbia, Bulgaria, and the Turkic tribes in Asia Minor.

In the War of Two Johns, both sides even competed to collude with foreign forces. During the war, Queen Anna used the Bulgarian army to defuse John VI's offensive against Adrianople, while John VI invested heavily in hiring Serbian and Turkic tribes to fight in the war.

Thrace and Macedonia

In the civil wars, foreign forces penetrated into the core of the empire. In this way, the inside story of the empire was known to other countries, and its weaknesses were known to others. After the emergence of a strong regime, Constantinople

Its fall is only a matter of time.

In this civil war, the empire lost most of its territory, farmland was barren, and the population was dispersed. Collapse was inevitable, and Muslims poured into the Balkans in large numbers. Everyone knows the lessons of Anatolia three centuries ago.

What will the future hold.

An historian who recorded the coronation of John V wrote: "Most of the emperor's crowns and crowns only looked like gold jewelry, but were actually leather dyed with gold and decorated with colored glass to pretend to be precious stones. The former emperors used

Come and taste the wine, a tall gold cup studded with red emeralds and pearls

, have been replaced by white tin cups or clay cups. You can see things like naturally beautiful gems and colorful pearls everywhere, but these can’t deceive everyone’s eyes. The prosperity and glory of the Roman Empire actually declined.

To this extent, the glory of the past has completely disappeared."

Even though the "Black Death" epidemic around 1350 reduced the empire's population by one-third, the ruling class of Eastern Rome was still keen on engaging in internal strife, even at the expense of inviting wolves into the house. In this case, the empire really lost its revival.

hope.

Before the civil war, the empire still had large territories such as Thrace, Salonika, and Impyrus; after the civil war, only a small part of Thrace, Constantinople, and perhaps a small island in Achaia remained.

It can also be counted.

It has become a reality for the "Emperor" to guard the country's gate, because the "Emperor" only has the country's gate left.

But even at this point, the descendants of the Palaiologos family could still fight a civil war (civil war between ancestors and grandchildren). In other words, throughout the fourteenth century, the (Eastern) Roman Empire was fighting a civil war. After the Civil War between John and John,

, the territory dropped sharply from about 150,000 square kilometers to less than 10,000 square kilometers, completely losing the last hope of reviving Rome.

Rather than saying that the Crusaders ruined Rome, it is better to say that Palaiologos ruined Rome. This family, which had an unfair position at the beginning, would eventually drag the entire Roman Empire with it. In its nearly two hundred years of rule, it was either a civil war or a cessation of territory.

In the end, only the castle was left with no land left. I am afraid that only Manuel II, John VIII and Constantine XI, these wise kings, can bring some face to Paleoluo.

.

Therefore, even after the fall of Constantinople in 1204, the strength of the Roman Empire was still intact. For example, under the careful rule of three generations of Nicaea emperors, the empire regained its vitality, and its national conditions were even better than those during the late Comnenus and Angelus dynasties.

Fortunately, the seeds of primitive nationalism were also born during this period. The Romans rekindled their hopes and confidence, and there was hope for the revival of the Roman Empire.

What Alexius needed to do was to lay the foundation stone for the revival of the empire, hoping to see the day when the Roman army recaptured Constantinople before his death.

But before that, he must ensure that he will not be defeated by the Latin Empire, the Sultanate of Rome or other Roman forces, and survive adversity, then he will be worthy of Rome, his identity and his due responsibilities.

The revival of the empire is a long process. Countless people have stepped forward and succeeded. This land full of heroes is sprinkled with the blood of warriors. No matter how dangerous it is or how bad the situation is, the empire always "supports the building before it collapses and turns the tide."

It’s fallen”.
Chapter completed!